Sam Evans learnt to play tabla in the traditional system of Guru-Shyisha-Parampara with tabla master Pandit Anindo Chatterjee in Calcutta, India (now Kolkata). Sam still regularly returns to India to study with his Guru.

Anindo Chatterjee is recognized as one of India's most eminent tabla
players. He was inspired to take up tabla by his uncle, the sitar player
Pandit Biswanath Chatterjee, when he was just four years old. At five
he was All India Radio's youngest artist. At six Anindo became a disciple
of Padmabhushan Gyan Prakash Ghosh and studied with him for well over thirty
years, some of which ran simultaneously with his extensive international
concert career. Gyan Prakash Ghosh was well known for his extensive knowledge
of all tabla gharanas, as well as his own Farukhabad gharana
furthering this Anindo also studied the Lucknow Tabla gharana with
Ustad Ahfaq Hussain Khan.

Anindo has a seemingly endless list of achievements: In 1990 he became the
first tabla player to perform in the House of Commons. In 2003 the
President of India crowned him with the prestigious sangeet natak akademi
award. The All India Critics Association adjudged him as the ‘Best
Performer of the Year 1997’ and at the tender age of 16, The Government
of India recognized his prodigious talent by awarding him the ‘gold
medal’ in the All India Radio Music Competition.

Anindo has carved out a niche for himself for his tabla
solos for which he is one of the most popular and in-demand performers. He
has achieved the most aesthetically satisfying combination of tradition and
innovation. As
an accompanist, he is known for his sense of balance and proportion,
crisp tonal quality, modulation of sound production and rapport with
soloists. Anindo has accompanied all of the top musicians and has toured
with them all over the world. Anindo enjoyed a long international
touring career with Pandit Nikhil Banerjee. His ability to seamlessly
blend in with the musician he is accompanying has brought him to share the
stage with Pandit. Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Ustad Vilayat Khan,Ustad
Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, and Pandit Shivkumar Sharma
to name only those who are the pillars on which Indian Classical Music today
rests.

Anindo’s ability to weave the most intricate textures
with tabla bols and to remain uncompromising with crispness and clarity at
virtually any speed has seen him adding new dimensions to his instrument. He
is a trendsetter for many generations to follow.

The Melbourne Tabla School was established by Sam Evans to assist the growth and interest of tabla in Australia. In creating a context for the tabla in Australia the school seeks to promote both traditional and modern approaches to the instrument. Read more....